Future Holds
by ccs4ever
Summary: One day, Jeremy, Aelita, Od, Ulrick, and Yumi complete a mssion defeating Xana, time resets and things change... A new student arrives carrying with him terrifying events and an inconceivable connection, JA UY, Not your typical new guy fic
1. Transference

Hello everyone! Partly due to writers block and a need for diversion I'm attempting my hand at a Code: Lyoko fic... be warned I know no French and will probably resort to using Japanese words that are strange and confusing to the uninformed... please bear with me while I attempt to tell you this little story... thank you very much and on with the show!

It's so hard to remember teachers or who is indeed in each class so I'll have to improvise, I hope no one minds....

Does anyone here know the name of those little four legged basically laser things? Not blocks or crabs, I just can't remember what these things are... as well as the name of those cronies that always hang around Sissy, I think one of them is named Herb..

Future Holds...

Chapter One: Transference

"Od! Be careful you only have ten more life points, try and conserve your ammunition you only have three arrows left"

Three crabs surrounded the boy who struggled to his feet, "easy for you to say in that chair..." he quickly dodged another blast, leaping into the air he landed with catlike reflexes on top of the middle crab,

The two flanking crabs immediately charged their cannons aiming straight toward their enemy. Od hung on tight with his clawed paws as the shots fired straight for him, in an instant he bounded from the top of the crab, the two shots flew in just below his form as it performed a flawless flip.

"Now!" he signaled firing two arrows directly on their mark,

From the scattered rocks Yumi and Ulrich stood, and in an instant their weapons were lodged in the metallic forms of the flanking crabs. All three of Xana's troops exploded in the following moment as time seemed to return to normal after slowing down for those action packed moments where one rarely notices the time has passed, all three stood at the bottom of a rocky patch of the Mountain Region.

"That was almost too easy!" Od bounded about hyper as he always was in Lyoko as a cat,

"I have to say it was almost too easy this time around" Ulrich yanked his sword from the soft earth in which it had lodged itself, "It's even more difficult for me to believe that Xana would use a different tower to create the same earthquake, he's tried that same tactic twice already"

"Speaking of towers Aelita should have reached it right about..." A great expanse of light shot forth from the horizon, "now" Yumi concluded as they were all engulfed in the returning past...

Aelita finished entering the code, she stood back to watch the glimmering data of the tower plummet to the abyss. For a moment the world reset, after the flash of light she was floating in a sea of pure darkness...

Her eyes fluttered open in the darkness of an instant she could swear she saw the glimmer of light something like she had never seen before...

"what?" she felt forward with her hand, she seemed to float forward toward this shimmering light, it felt so warm and familiar...

Her real eyes opened to the feeling of the cold metal floor of the light platform, all around her the data swirled, glowing in their surreal incandescent light against the darkness of the background.

"I wonder what that was..." she pulled herself from the floor below her until she was once again standing before the edge of the platform. She brought her hand to her chest feeling again the strange warmth she had only moments before, _I wonder..._

She turned from the edge falling back effortlessly into the sea of code that led to the scattered fields of Lyoko...

**Riiiiinnnnnggg! **"That was the bell everyone it is time to begin class..." a young woman with long blond hair stood before the class that as mentioned had just begun. Among the chattering of students it was instantly recognized that this was a substitute.

The blond haired woman wrote her name on the blackboard, "My name is Mrs. Idoru and I will be filling in for your math teacher today..."

She turned from the board to face her students, "and the first order of business today is to begin learning about exponential functions today..."

**Briiinngggg Briinnnggg Brinnngggg**

Mrs. Idoru was interrupted by the sudden interjection of the telephone, she put down the math book she was about to open, dashing for the receiver.

"I wonder what this is all about?" Ulrick stared at the teacher as she muttered into the phone, a few "yes sirs" and "no sirs" nothing upon which any information could be gleamed. It had apparently been a long time since the phone had been used, not including Xana attack related chaos.

"what do you think Od?" he turned his head to see the snoring form of his friend slumped over on his desk, apparently Od had decided to take advantage of the substitute situation, like he would on any other school related occasion.

He couldn't help but sweatdrop at his appearance( I haven't seen this in the show but I hope its there) "you really should get more sleep..."

The clatter of the receiver against the handle brought the chattering to a halt as Mrs. Idoru returned to her place beside the desk. She cleared her throat, "ahem, I have an announcement to make..." she paused for a moment gazing at the sleeping and mostly sleep needing students in wonder, "it would appear that this class will be receiving a new student..."

"what!" The collective gasp of the student body was astounding, and the following chattering mind numbing. Ulrich stared eyes wide in disbelief, _That's impossible!_

He scanned the room for Yumi and Jeremy who returned his puzzled and disturbed expression,

"How can that be!" cried a student, "we only have one more seat left and its my foot rest!" cried another in despair and anger, "yeah! And another female student would interfere with the crucial male/female balance that has carefully been built in this class...."

"What do you mean! We barely have any girls! Although it would be nice if it were a cute mature looking guy!" one of the girls yelled as her imagination began to run...

"what's going on already?" questioned the awake, but still groggy Od,

"Silence!" the blond woman screeched at the top of her lungs, in an instant all was such. She cleared her throat once more, "I believe the student has arrived..." a soft knocking sound was heard emanating from the door to the left. Mrs. Idoru walked toward the door smiling as she stared into the silhouette of the figure through the glass, "you may come in..." she twisted the handle of the door pulling it open....

All sound seemed to cease save for the footsteps of the new arrival, who walked slowly from the door to the middle of the room,

"What the hell..." Od's voice trailed off as he gazed at the scene before him,

"It's nice to meet you all, my name is Kiro Higureshi" a young boy roughly Ulrich's height bowed before them. His messy brown hair hung just slightly over his forehead, he straightened out to reveal a set of stunning green eyes. A charming smile hung about his face as he stared out into the student body before him, "I look forward to meeting you all..." his gaze wandered about the room, from Jeremy on the upper left to Yumi on the right. It was there were his gaze stopped and stayed for a moment longer than some people believed necessary.

"Thank you Mr. Higureshi, would you please take a seat at what I have been informed is our last seat next to Ulrich."

Ulrich watched as the boy approached him, _This doesn't make any sense at all..._

"Hello my name is Kiro, and you are Ulrich right?"

Ulrich stared from the boy's smiling face to his dark blue shirt and pants then back to the hand he held out.

Ulrich smiled shaking his hand, "yes, nice to meet you"

"It just doesn't make any sense at all..." Jeremy was first to voice his opinion,

"I was hoping you would have an answer, how could something happen that didn't happen before..." Yumi took a bite from her casserole as that same question mulled over in the minds of the entire group.

"Does this mean that every time we travel back into the past we run the risk of encountering alternate events?"

"I suppose it's possible, we have changed little events that we knew of before... however in this case it happened without us directly changing anything" Jeremy stared at his lunch in thought, "I suppose I should check with Aelita on it..."

"That would probably be best, I'll go with you" Yumi stood from her seat following Jeremy, "It should only take a second anyway, I have time"

"Are you sure? A second with Aelita to Jeremy usually means several hours, makes me wonder what you two talk about"

"Od! You know how sensitive Jeremy is about his relationship! I am shocked by your insinuations"

The two enjoyed a bout of laughter as Yumi and an extremely blushing Jeremy made their way from the lunch room,

A pair of green eyes stared at the retreating pair as they left the cafeteria, "I suppose it's almost time then..."

"Regardless of how he got here, what do you think about that new kid?" Od questioned as he casually leaned his chair back, "He seemed nice enough to me..."

"I don't know there is just something I didn't like about him..."

"Could it possibly be that he stared at a certain someone for a millisecond longer than necessary?" Od smirked

"I don't know what your talking about"

Ulrich turned away from his friend to find his gaze met by a familiar pair of startling green eyes, "umm, may I sit here?"

"Sure why not?" Od piped in cheerily from his flan

"thank you very much" the boy sat down on the chair next to Ulrick, "I think I remember this all now, your Ulrick, he's Od, and those two who were leaving just now are Yumi and Jeremy"

"yeah that's right... so Kiro, where do you come from?"

Kiro gazed down at his tray thoughtfully, "actually I was born in France, I just transferred here from Shiere Beloqois" the two gave him a rather blank stare....

"heheheh, its probably a place you've never heard of before" Kiro chuckled nervously as he stared at Ulrick and Od who paid more than partial attention to his story.

The door to Jeremy's room opened as he and Yumi filed through it. Jeremy sat down on the chair grasping the headset from the desk and placing it securely on his head, "Aelita can you hear me?"

In a moment the screen flashed and the same pink haired, green eyed, woman they all have come to know, respect, and love appeared before them.

"Yes I am here Jeremy, is there anything wrong?"

"That's what we wanted to ask you... we encountered an irregularity in the events since the time reset"

"Oh, in what way?"

Yumi stood from Jeremy's bed to be closer to the computer, "We received a transfer student in our class today, but that event did not occur before we reset"

"I see..." Aelita's gaze shifted down for a moment her hand on her chest, "As I think back there was an irregularity in Lyoko as well..."

"What do you mean Aelita?" _This could be more serious than I thought..._

"So what do you think of your new class?" Od had become much more interested in their new arrival since he had offered his desert,

Kiro smiled brightly, "hmm, well I haven't been here for very long, but I think I can grow to like it" _The math is easy enough..._

"you were so amazing! Solving that math problem so quickly, its all Greek to me..."

"It really is very easy, exponential functions are one of my favorites because no matter how much you go down you never reach zero... I can teach you if you want"

Od shook his head, "no thanks, but I'm sure Sissy would love your help, she's not very bright"

"hmm... you mean that one over there?" Od followed his hand over to the very same black haired girl, "yeah, how did you know?"

"I overheard her little group talking moments before, she sounds awfully conceited."

"that's what we've been saying! I think your gonna fit in very well here Kiro" Od gave him an assuring pat on the back, to which he sweatdropped, "ah, thank you..."

In an empty room somewhere within school walls a sink dripped. **Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat...**

From within the darkened room an outlet flared with sparks, a black cloud wound its way from the plug. The faucet handle began to slowly turn releasing a deluge of water from the high powered nozzle, the water writhed and bubbled within the confines of the sink. It boiled and seethed over the boundaries spilling to the floor, like a gelatinous blob it rose slightly from the ground, electricity surged from the outlet and the beast began to grow. A red eye burned to life somewhere near its top...

"So you say you saw a bright light?" _How peculiar..._

Aelita nodded, "yes, during the time of the reset I could feel something in the darkness, even if that is impossible..."

"What was it like?" Yumi piped in from the corner of the chair, "It's hard to explain..." Aelita closed her eyes in thought, "it was like it was familiar, something I should know but I can't quite..."

Suddenly her eyes shot open, "Jeremy I sense a tower being activated!"

Jeremy leaned forward, "What!? Where is it?"

"The pulsations seem to be emanating from the Forest Region"

"Alright we will meet you there!" Jeremy swung the chair around dashing out of the room as Aelita disappears from the screen,

They are running at top speed through the hallways, "Yumi get Od and Ulrich on the phone, tell them to meet us at the factory, its time to go to Lyoko"

Yumi nods slowing down as she grasps her cell phone from her pocket.

Lunch was just about over, Ulrick, Od, and Kiro were still sitting around the same table, nursing their respective lunches. "So see anyone you like yet?"

Kiro sighed, "well Od, that's kinda a personal question..." his gaze shifted from Od to Ulrick who had been quietly staring at him for some time now, "but if I were to say someone..." he noticed now Ulrick gaze seemed to become more intent on him as this line of questioning reached its conclusion. He couldn't help but smirk closing his eyes for a moment he cocked his head to the side, "would probably be Yumi..."

Ulrick got up from his seat, grasping his tray firmly, "Hey Ulrick were you going?"

He didn't respond until a sudden vibration in his pocket almost made him drop the remainder of his lunch, **Briinnnnggg Briiinnngg Brinnngg Click!**

He held the phone to his head, "Ulrich we have a..."

The door to the cafeteria burst open, the three turned in time to see the double doors fall flat to the ground. A large nearly clear blob burst in carrying a student in its grasp, a red Xana sign on a slight slimy protrusion on its top burned red. Electricity shot through the child in its grasp until she stopped screaming and fell limply to the ground.

"what the hell is that!?" Ulrich and Od yelled in unison

"We have a problem, Xana has activated another tower, we need you and Od at the factory now!"

The blob raced forward nearly engulfing another student who just managed to escape through a side door. "We have a situation here too, a large blob of something is attacking students, one of them is already down, we'll try and reach you as soon as we can...."

"What's going on!" Ulrich turned to find Sissy next to him,

"Sissy, Od, Kiro we have to get us and the remaining students out of here now!"

"I'm on it!" Od ran over to two girls that were huddled in a corner, pulling them up they ran and made it through the exit toward the outside, "Come on"

Ulrick grabbed Sissy's arm and together they made their way toward the door. They had reached the threshold when Ulrick turned around, "come on Kiro hurry!" he screamed through the cafeteria as Kiro had stayed behind, he was facing the creature who had managed to seize a new victim. He turned to them, "don't worry Ulrich, I'll get out my own way... besides you sound like you have somewhere to be..."

Ulrick wanted to run back and grab him but was pulled forward, "Come on Ulrick we have to escape!" Sissy pulled him along as they ran out into the courtyard.

Jeremy scrambled to put on his headset, "Aelita what's your status?"

"I'm approaching the tower..."

Aelita hops over a large tree trunk, "no sign of Xana's forces yet"

"I'm not detecting any either, but keep on your guard, I'm sending Yumi in now..."

The door to the scanners opens and Yumi runs into the middle chamber, "Alright Jeremy I'm in position"

"alright then, Scanning Yumi"

Her eyes close as her body is lifted through the scanner system, "Scanning complete, transferring Yumi"

Her form slowly phases into an area surrounded by trees and grass, "Alright Jeremy, where's Aelita?"

"She is running towards the tower, north by northeast of your current location"

"Alright then"

Aelita stops over a high cliff, below her only partially obscured by the clouds and mist is the unmistakable glowing red tower, and...

"Jeremy..."

What is it Aelita?" Jeremy is fiercely typing on the keyboard, the screen and the large model of Lyoko shifting around, "I'm still not detecting any creatures..."

"I can't be positive from this distance, but I see at least eight blocks, three crabs, and something else guarding the tower..."

"what! That can't be possible..." more typing and the area encompassing Aelita appears on the screen, in a moment the true number of enemies appeared on the screen. The screen seemed to become fuzzy as the motion recognition became choppier, their movements were becoming harder a harder to see...

"Damn it! Yumi we have a problem"

"I've almost reached Aelita, what's wrong?" Yumi hops eloquently over another log as she begins up an incline toward a small jump, she can see Aelita awaiting her on the cliff ahead,

"We have a large number of enemies below the cliff, they are guarding the tower and I'm having a heard time tracking their movement"

"is that all!" she launches herself over the edge, reaching the other side she flips forward landing upright, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine Aelita, now let's see the enemy..." she stares down the cliff, the blocks below are holding stationary around the tower in a grid, the crabs are standing guard before the narrow passage toward it, and... "What is that thing?"

The great beast of water hurls the student in its clutches limply to the wall. The child strikes the wall like a doll falling limply to the floor. The beast stares out the door leading to the hallway and more prey, a tray bounces off its slimy back, it turns to see Kiro standing before it grasping another tray in his hands.

"I think you've had quite enough..."

The beast charges forward two projections of water shoot slightly from it resembling arms. Kiro stands firm a smirk never leaving his face as his grip on the tray tightens, the beast is feet away before stopping in its tracks. The red sign blazes on its projection resembling a head, it swivels around confused,

Kiro chuckles slightly through his smirk, "that's right Xana, it's time to play..." he soars upward as the creature dives down attempting to snatch him, with a somersault in the air he smashes the tray on the eye of the water beast with great force. Landing on the ground he turns to find the beast splash to a puddle of water on the ground, "that should hold you, for a short time anyway..."

Kiro runs from the cafeteria hurrying out into the courtyard, "not much time now..."

"What's going on!" Sissy yells out in the open courtyard that leads to the park,

Od turns to Ulrick, "We have to go now, the Jeremy and Yumi need us..."

"but what about..." Ulrick looks back at the cafeteria, "don't worry look" Od points at the form of Kiro as he dashes through the courtyard and into the park,

Ulrick nods, "Sissy you stay there, we have to go now, bye!" he calls back as they make a mad dash through the forest,

"Ulrick, Od come back here!" Sissy calls after them as they disappear into the foliage, _I don't want to be alone..._

"Jeremy, do you think we would make it if we just tried a mad dash for it?" Yumi crouches down gazing over the ledge,

Jeremy leans back in the chair pushing his glasses back against the bridge of his nose, "The chances of success would be very low, in any event we should wait for Ulrick and Od to arrive..."

"But we can't just wait here!" Yumi cries out in frustration, her foot knocks a small rock from the ledge. It falls to the ground klicking and klacking against the edge before coming to rest against the foot of a small four legged hopper.

The creature gazed up into the sky until it almost falls over, the targeting system just made a lock-on.

"huh?" Aelita gazes down at the ground below them, her eyes widen in shock,

"what is it Aelita?" Yumi crouched beside her gazing down, "Look out!"

Aelita pulled them both back just before a high powered red blast shoots past where their heads had once been.

Jeremy typed frantically on the computer as the screen continued to worsen, "I can't tell what could be blocking the scanner!" for an instant the screen became clear and the data flowed seamlessly, it was then he saw the red blip, of something he had never seen before. The card flashed on the screen, his two friends versus... "Aelita, Yumi run!"

Jeremy's voice sounded through Lyoko as the two sat up from the ground, "what is it Jeremy?"

A black blur flew from the tip of the ledge, it flew high into the air. A fierce black dragon spread its mighty wings, its long black tail swished in the air as its head arched back, a bright red light shone in its eyes.

"Yumi we have no choice!" Yumi nodded back as they both jumped to their feat, they took a mighty leap from the cliff. They plummeted for several seconds before making a disorderly landing in the brush of the forest below. They turned back just in time to see the top of the cliff annihilated by the red blast of the dragon...

Ulrick and Od rushed past the short bridge to the factory, "come on Od hurry up!"

Od struggled to catch his breath behind him, "I can't help but sense some deja vu here, that is as long as you beat me to the elevator!"

With that he put on a burst of speed passing Ulrich he skids into the turn at the entrance to the factory. Ulrick struggles to keep up, "If I don't beat you, you know that means your further messing with time right?"

"Odd, I never thought of it like that..." The extra thinking time create the exact moment of indecision Ulrick needed to succeed. He puts on an immense burst of speed passing Od and reaching... "what?"

They arrive at the elevator just as its door closes, Od pushes on the button, but the doors refuse to open, "Maybe it's broken?"

"No, I saw somebody in there, the elevator must be waiting for that passenger to get off..."

Od waits around shuffling his feet, "but, how can that be? We're here and Yumi and Jeremy must be down already..."

Ulrich stood for a moment deep in thought, his thoughts brought him back to just before he left the cafeteria. He was gazing at Kiro who stood watching the water creature, his eyes suddenly widened, "It can't be!"

"Aelita, Yumi are you alright!?" Jeremy calls frantically from the chair, he saw their icons move from that cliff to the field below. At that instant the three crabs advanced forward accompanied by four blocks they approached in a staggered line toward them.

"Yes for now!" Yumi's called out from the bushes they had landed in, "Come on Aelita we have to find some cover!"

They both ran as the red shots landed all around them from the combined force a dozen yards away. They stood in formation firing into the air like artillery, "they seem to be leading us forward"

The forest seemed to thicken as they reached a small area where four logs created a makeshift fort in the center. The minute they dove behind the log the firing ceased, "I think your right..." Yumi squinted off into the distance where the blocks and crabs were slowly advancing forward.

"Jeremy we found some cover, but I don't know how long we'd be able to defend it... we need Ulrick and Od now"

Jeremy looked behind him as he heard the elevator coming to a halt, "I think they may have just arrived..."

"that's a relief!" Yumi jumped atop the log launching her fan she managed to take out one of the blocks as it lumbered over some rocks, "one down..."

"watch out!" Yumi managed to jump back just as a second wave of laser fire pelted through the air were she had just been... "phew that was close..." the fire began to concentrate on the log as she lay back against a small rock that lay in the clearing... "we could really use Od and Ulrick"

"I know what you mean Aelita, I know what you mean" _Ulrick get your ass up here or I'll fan you..._

Jeremy got up from his seat as the doors opened wide, "Od, Ulrick its about time you..."

In place of his two friends their stood a boy about the Ulrick's height who wore a dark blue shirt and pants. He was smiling deeply at Jeremy's mumbling attempts at understanding, "hello Jeremy, my name is Kiro the transfer student"

It took a moment before Jeremy collected himself, "how did you get here? Ahhhhh and by here I mean our secret three dimensional game creation facility ha ha heh"

Kiro's features became serious, "I don't have time to explain..."

He walked from the elevator to the middle of the room before turning, "I just need to be in Lyoko right now!"

------------------

Chapter One: Transference end

Well I think that that went pretty well, I managed to get in a lot of what I had originally intended and what's awaiting is even more surprising I assure you...

I have been looking around a lot now and I notice that a lot of the fanfics have transfer students coming over and doing things, but I hope that mine will be an interesting and different spin on this much used plot line.... thank you and I hope your reading was and continues to be a pleasant one...

Next Up! Chapter Two: Death is Death


	2. Death is Death

I believe the hall monitor/guy who tries to get kids in trouble/gym teacher I think is named Jim, it's not really that important, but I really can't remember...

Also sadly I do not know the principals name so I may have to resort to using 'sir' **shutters** it sounds terrible, but that is the way it may have to be...

Future Holds...

Chapter Two: Death is Death

For a moment Jeremy stared into the determined gaze of the boy who stood before him. The door to the elevator closed shut behind him, "I don't know..."

Kiro turned toward the computer as frantic shouting could be heard from the headset. Jeremy ran to his seat putting the headset back on, "what's happened?"

Yumi and Aelita were on opposite ends of the 'fort', the shots seemed to pelt the logs from all sides, "We have big problems here, the remaining blocks guarding the tower moved..." Yumi jumped to the top of the log throwing her fan, the resulting explosion was some comfort, "and are currently flanking us on all sides, we can't last much longer here"

Jeremy turned from the computer, a worried expression plastered on his face, "what should we do?"

Kiro walked toward the elevator, which made sounds signaling the imminent arrival of Od and Ulrich, "It sounds like your friends are coming, but you'll need me as well"

"If you know about Lyoko then you know its not that simple, It would take more time than we have to assign you a character, not to mention..." he was cut off by a floppy falling to his lap. He looked up from his lap to Kiro, his eyes were close and he was smiling brightly, "don't worry everything is taken care of..."

The door to the elevator opened, "Jeremy there is a large water monster attacking the school, how is...." Ulrich was immediately cut off when he noticed Kiro entering the elevator that grin still on his face. His eyes narrowed, "what are you doing here?"

Kiro didn't answer instead turning to Jeremy, "Character set A, Subset R, Character: Kiro, Password: Kibu" Jeremy nodded as the elevator door closes...

Jeremy turns from the elevator to the computer as he inserts the disk, "here goes nothing..."

"You're going with us!?" Od stammered as he and Ulrich stared at the young man before them, he merely remained staring at the wall, "all will be revealed in time..."

The doors to the scanners open wide, Od enters the middle one while Kiro and Ulrich enter the left and right.

"Scanning Kiro, Ulrich, and Od" their respective bodies move up through the scanner, "transferring, Kiro, Ulrich, and Od" _Please save them!_

"Ah!" Yumi is blown back to the ground, three shots raked across her body at once, "Yumi your down to ten life points, but don't worry help is on the way..."

"Finally..." Yumi staggers to her feet, she limps over to Aelita, "How are things over here?"

Aelita looks back at her friend with doubt in her green eyes, "It doesn't look too good, there are still at least five blocks and three crabs"

Yumi pokes her head above the log squinting out into the murky fog of the distance, she ducked back down just in time to avoid another blast as it crashed against the log behind them. "They seem to be keeping their distance too, I can't reach them with my fan from here..." _Where the hell are those little..._

At that moment she heard the shimmering sound that filled her with hope, "it's about damn time..."

They turned to the familiar forms of Ulrich the swordsman, Od the cat, and... "Who the heck are you?"

A boy with startling green eyes stood before them wearing a dark green tunic and pants accompanied by a dark blue cloak. He drew a katana that hung around his belt, "I'm a friend... my name is Kiro, and we have some work to do..."

Yumi looked at Ulrich and Od for an explanation, Od held up his hands dismissively, "Hey don't look at us, we just showed up and he was here..."

A few wayward shots pounding against the surrounding trunks quickly reminded them all of the seriousness of their situation, "Our main objective is to reach the tower, Od and myself will clear a path to our left so that Yumi and Aelita can get through"

"right!" Everyone nodded their agreement, even Kiro, "I suppose that would work, so go and do it already... just remember to protect Aelita"

Od and Ulrich took positions at opposite ends of one of the logs that faced the left, Yumi waited in the center next to Aelita.

Aelita couldn't help but stare at the new arrival, "umm have we ever met before?"

Kiro shifted his gaze down to her, "no, I don't believe so at least not in this life... why do you ask?"

Aelita looked toward her front and the procession of blocks that began to march toward them, "No reason, I just..."

"Is everyone ready?" Ulrich called from his side of the log, everyone nodded silently over the blasts that continued to rain down from all sides,

"Now!" In an instant Ulrich and Od were atop the log, Od was first to fire a hail of arrows taking out two blocks and wounding another.

Ulrich and Od dash forward weaving around the shots from right to left as they clear the distance between them and the remaining blocks, Ulrich leaps through the air landing on one block he jams his sword through it.

Yumi and Aelita are atop the log in an instant, Yumi turns to see Kiro still standing in the center of the logs, "are you coming?"

He turned to them a closed eyed smile on his face, "No, I have something here I have to take care of first, you two go along... these guys shouldn't be too much trouble for your skill"

Yumi nods as she and Aelita leap from the log and begin their dash through the forest,

Kiro turns from their retreating forms gazing first to the ground. He sighs, "you know you can come out now..."

In an instant the great black dragon appeared in a flash of darkness before him, he beat his great wings as he stared in confusion at the creature below him... Kiro stared upward as two more dragons alike save for their color scheme appeared in flashes of blue and red high in the sky above him. As he gazed at their massive forms he couldn't help but smirk, "come and get me..."

Yumi and Aelita were nearing the tower when two crabs appeared in a flash before them, "Aelita watch out!" they dive behind a rock just as the blasts pummel it. The crabs walk around the rock to discover them missing, "right here!"

Yumi throws her fan at one crab as it turns toward them, it explodes in an instant as the fan returns to her grasp, "Yumi behind you!" Yumi turns just in time to see the blast of red light approach, she tried to move but it was too late. She closed her eyes expecting the inevitable feeling of being pulled back to earth, however she is knocked back a few yards to the ground. She could feel a warm body on top of her own as she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the crab preparing another shot. She clutched her fan, lifting it from the ground she throws it with all her strength. The fan flies forth striking the crab directly in the eye, it arches back the shot launching harmlessly into the air before it explodes. Yumi sits up catching the fan, she stares down at Aelita as they both get to their feet, a few blue damage sparks hung about her,

Another shot a few feet away hailed the arrival of a wayward block, the two began to run forward again, "What were you thinking Aelita!?" Aelita was taken aback by her outburst as they continued to run, "I was just trying too..."

"Listen our lives here are virtual, If we die we will always come back..." they both gracefully hopped over another log, "but if you were to die!" she turned hurling her fan at the advancing block behind them shattering it to pieces. The fan returned to her hand in moments, "you won't come back and I'll never forgive you..." for a moment Aelita stared into her friend's slight smile, "thank you, Yumi..."

The cafeteria stood silent in the early afternoon sun. The double doors that led to the hallway remained battered and broken on the ground.

Jim whistled a little tune as he turned the corner toward the cafeteria, the whistling suddenly stopped. "what the hell happened here!?"

He runs into the cafeteria almost tripping on the broken doors, "who could have done this?" he gazes around at the sopping wet floor, his gaze eventually reaches two students who were lying motionless on the floor. "Are you two alright?"

In a moment he was beside the bodies of the two students feeling their pulse. The frantic moment passes as the gentle thready beats reach his fingertips, a slight smile reaches his face, "alright then, let's get you to the infirmary..." with that said he slings a child over each of his broad shoulders, as he heads toward the door his foot comes in contact with a large puddle on the ground, "we better get a mop for this too..."

With that he exits the cafeteria, walking through the many halls of the school to the infirmary. Tiny ripples move across the surface of the water from that one small point until they reach the very edges of the room, a pulse causes all the water to shiver. A spark and it begins to dance...

A crab writhes and falls to the ground, three arrows lodged in its front it explodes in a violent flash of light. "That should be the last of those..." _And my arrows..._

Od looked around noticing that his particular battle had taken him away from the others, "Hey Jeremy how is everything going?"

Jeremy leans back in his chair to get a good look at the widening battle field, "things are much better than when Yumi was in there alone, most of the enemies have been defeated, leaving only a few scattered blocks... the only thing that puzzles me is this gray area covering that fort location, it appeared shortly after you left and now I can't see what's going on there..."

Od bounded forward, "Kiro was there last time I checked, has he said anything?"

"No, he's been completely silent since everyone separated"

"I'll go check it out, I think Yumi and Ulrich can handle what little remains of the blocks..."

"alright" Jeremy shifts the screen around to where Aelita and Yumi are, "Yumi, what's your status?"

Yumi and Aelita appear atop a rising hill overlooking the thin pathway to the tower, "We've almost reached the tower, not much more to go..." They ran further down the hill as the path became closer and closer.

"Aelita, Yumi I'm detecting enemies, two hoppers close by..."

From behind a single large rock on either side of the pathway a hopper appeared, they were so close now that the two groups almost ran into each other, "Aelita!"

The two hoppers fired faster than anyone had seen them before, Yumi stood between the shots and Aelita. They connected with a red flare around her as she disappeared...

"Aelita out of the way!" Aelita ducked behind a rock as Ulrich dashed in, with two swift slashes the hoppers were dismantled and destroyed. Aelita peeked from behind the rock, "thank you Ulrich"

Ulrich motioned for her go forward, "Don't mention it, just get to that tower!"

"Right!" she dashed forward beginning her run down the long narrow path...

Od bounded forward on all fours swiftly approaching the fort at which they had stayed before, his nimble body weaved through trees and bushes. He was just about to gracefully hop over a large trunk when a giant explosion in front of him knocked him from his feet and straight into the tree. He sat back for a moment rubbing his head, "oww... what was that about?"

He stared over the log to see the trees in disarray, the fort in which they had found protection now seemed to more closely resemble a crater, Od whistled in astonishment, "what the heck caused this?"

In that instant he witnessed Kiro materialize in front of his eyes in a flash of white light, the sight almost made him fall backwards, but regardless he continued to watch...

"Is that all you got? For something that would have given these people so much trouble I'm shocked!"

The tree line had at first prevented Od from seeing what now terrified him more than anything he had seen in his nightmares, "Jeremy... do you see what I'm seeing?"

"No, I still can't seem to penetrate that one area, but don't worry Aelita is almost at the tower, what's wrong?" Jeremy noted his friends agitation,

"I just happen to see two very large dragons flying above me with very scary expressions on their faces..."

"what!?" Jeremy begins typing more frantically against the keyboard in an attempt to see into that one area that alluded him, "I still can't see anything!"

The cafeteria sat devoid of human life as a large blob reformed in its center.

"I've never seen anything like it before..." Jim explained to the principal as they both walked down the corridors nearing the cafeteria, "this kind of malevolent destruction cannot stand..."

The principal walked alongside as they rounded a corner, "Let's first examine the damages before we assign blame, Jim"

"All I'm saying is if we do a roll call right now I can guess four names who will not be..." At this point the cafeteria came into view, the doors were back in place against the wall, "that can't be, those doors were in pieces on the ground when I first saw them..." they walked closer to the cafeteria, "well that shows you that perhaps it was just some kind of innocent accident after all..." the principal moved to open the door when Jim held out a hand, "you'd better let me do this, they could still be fragile..." the principal backed away a few paces as Jim reached for the handle...

The handle came away from the door as he grasped it, drops of water dripped down the small hole, "what the...?"

The door burst outward falling atop of Jim as a large blob of water raced forward, the principal was too shocked to move as the water beast ravaged toward him.

Kiro stared upward at the remaining two dragons, "You think you can stop me than come and try it!" The red dragon raced downward baring its dagger like teeth and slashing claws. Kiro stood his ground facing the creature, his cloak flapping in the wind generated by the beating of its mighty wings. Just before the mighty jaws of the creature snapped shut on him, Kiro pushed off from the ground, he rose through the air just as the dragon plowed underneath. Landing atop the dragon he plunges his katana into its back.

The beast screams in agony as it soars upward into the sky. Od watches in amazement as the creature explodes in a massive fireball, in an instant Kiro was back on the ground. Removing his sword from the soft earth he spoke upwards to the last remaining dragon, "I will protect them no matter what..."

The black dragon stares back at him beating its mighty wings, Od couldn't believe it when he first heard it, but he swore it chuckled. In an instant that chuckle turned into a full blown laugh, "ha ha ha ha ha heh, We'll see what the future holds... little boy" the dragon soared into the air above as Kiro stared after it, his eyes widened in shock when it suddenly disappeared in a flash of darkness... "oh no Aelita!"

Od watched as he too disappeared in a flash of bright light, Od then fell backwards into the soft grass, "this is going to be a long day..."

The principal yelled out in fear as the beast came inches from him, and then it stopped. As the principal stared through it he became aware of the cause, "Run, sir, run!"

Jim had grasped the beast and now electricity coursed through it as it began to draw him closer into itself. "Jim..." the principal stayed for a moment in indecisiveness, "hurry!" Jim was finally sucked straight into the beast as it surged current throughout his body. The watchman of all children who stay out too late fell limply to the ground in moments as the beast rushed forward through the halls...

"Almost there..." Aelita put on a burst of speed, her breath coming in gasps as she was now only a dozen yards from the tower, the exhilaration of the whole world being saved once more pushing her forward, and then...

A great force knocked her to the ground, her eyes opened from their reflexive closure to stare blankly forward, "what?" her eyes focused as she lifted her head up to see all light blocked out by the mammoth creature before her. Its wings nearly encircled her so that the light of day was almost obscured completely. She tried to get up, but for some reason she couldn't move, "shie!" the beast's mouth hung open as a dark ball of energy formed there. Aelita tried desperately to move as she faced the darkness of death, but it was futile. The memories of her life flashed before her, the happy times, the sad times, meeting new friends and all the adventures they had had together. She could feel something drip down her cheek as the memories flooded her mind, "Jeremy!" she called out into the darkness as the great creature brought forth its mighty head and the blast launched forth...

"Aelita!" Jeremy pounded the keyboard as the image of the black dragon appeared before her form on the screen,

"Aelita!" Ulrich called as he dashed forward attempting to reach her,

"AELITA!"

Aelita stared helplessly forward as the blast approached her, time seemed to move more slowly than ever it had before. She closed her eyes from the certain death that approached her.

Ulrich stared blankly as the explosion rocked the very ground he stood on, his gaze never left the plume of dust and debris that flew in every direction from where his friend had been... The dragon smirked as it brought its wings back, "so simple..."

Ulrich stared as the dust cleared, he wished he could just look away but some part of him urged him to keep watching.

Jeremy held his face in his hands, "I should have done something more..." Yumi faced the screen as she heard her friend's quiet sobbing, her vision became blurry as she too felt the sting of tears in her eyes...

Ulrich walked forward toward the dragon, his knuckles white against his sword, "damn you dragon, I'll..." his eyes suddenly widened in shock as did the dragon's. He stood watching in amazement and euphoria, "Jeremy!"

Yumi stared at the screen in shock as the gray blur over the tower peeled away, four blips became clearly visible... "Jeremy!"

Jeremy pulled his hands from his head, daring to look blurrily into the flat screen before him, his face brightened, _Thank goodness...._

Aelita stared in wonder as Kiro stood before her his hand raised toward the dragon. The blast had been deflected around them destroying much of the rock on either side, which in itself was unusual.

"How dare you..." Kiro stared back at the great beast his hands firmly against his katana,

The dragon stared back feebly, "how... how could you...?"

"Shie!" Kiro leaped into the air before the dragon could react its chest was pierced straight through... Kiro dragged the sword down as he fell to the ground nearly cutting it in half. The beast barely managed a few grunting noises before disappearing into nothing...

Kiro placed his katana back into its sheath before turning to Aelita, "are you alright?"

Aelita was speechless as she accepted the hand he offered barely managing to get out a, "yes, thank you..."

The boy smiled at her sighing in relief, "that's good... now I believe you have a tower to deal with..."

"right..." she ran forward disappearing into the tower without further delay...

Kiro watched as she entered the tower before turning to see an astonished and thoroughly winded Ulrich.

Ulrich stopped a moment staring at Kiro before holding out his hand, "Thank you..."

Kiro shook his hand returning the same closed eyed smile Ulrich now had plastered on his face, "Don't mention it..."

Ulrich opened his eyes as they let go of each other's hand, "I'm sure Jeremy is going to want to make you an honorary Lyoko Defender for this..." Ulrich smirked as he watched Kiro walk a short distance down the path,

He turned to face his newfound friend, "I don't know if all of you will like me as much in a few moments..."

Aelita phased through the tower as she walked to the center of the rings they glowed their same haunting glow. As she floated through the air she could sense a terrible uneasiness flow through her, it grew in intensity until she reached the very top.

"Something isn't right..." she felt shivers run through her as she reached the very center of the top platform, the screen appeared before her...

The water beast rampaged through the hallways, it stopped as it tackled one male student to the ground in an intersection. It was at that moment that the loud speaker came on, "All students and teachers this is your principal speaking, evacuate the building immediately!"

The Xana symbol flared a bright red as the creature tossed the student hard against the ground. A classroom of students appeared from a classroom to the left of the creature, it reared towards them...

Aelita stood before the screen, her hand just pressed against the velvety surface. "AELITA" appeared on the screen and in an instant "LYOKO" followed it, that word which represented so much she understood and yet so much that was a mystery to her flashed repeatedly on the screen before disappearing.

A smile reached her lips as she gazed around at the plummeting screens before her, _I guess it was nothing after all..._

Ulrich stared as the evil red energy emanating from the tower faded to a gentle blue, "It's time..."

Jeremy gazed at the screen as his finalized reset coordinates filed in, suddenly...

Aelita felt a strange gust of moving air surround her as the screens and flowing bits of information returned. She stumbled forward catching herself before she fell to the ground, "this isn't right!"

"Error?" Jeremy stared into his monitor, a large red exclamation point flashed, "this isn't right, Aelita what happened?"

"I don't know..." Aelita stared around at the data that was pouring in, "it would seem that the system has reset, but..."

"Time did not" Yumi finished the sentence by stating the obvious, "or so it seems..."

"yes..." Aelita's head was bowed, "I'm sorry I must have done something wrong..."

"No don't blame yourself Aelita, we'll solve the problem..." Jeremy spoke as soothingly as he could, "I'm just thankful your still with us, you gave us quite a scare..."

Aelita blushed slightly, "thank you, Jeremy your always so kind" It's Jeremy's turn to blush now, and do so he does...

"umm guys?"

Jeremy fuddled with his glasses as the blush faded away, "yes Od, what is it?"

Od still lay on the soft mossy ground, "I was just thinking that if time hasn't reset than does that mean the water creature is still at school?"

The thought almost made Jeremy fall from his chair, "That is a possibility, Yumi could you..."

Yumi was already in the elevator, "I'm on it..."

The blaring of ambulances filled the schoolyard. Their flashing lights brodcast to anyone who cared to look the strange and terrible events that occured today... the fact that life is full of strangeness and death is the strangest of all...

-------------------

Chapter Two: Death is Death end

Phew! This particular one was very interesting for me to write... I hope to add some variety to the creatures I add in here, hence the dragons, which I feel is a lot better in the long run, than continually reusing the blocks and so forth...

This may sound like a strange place to end, and it is, but if I were to go on any further this thing would probably go on for quite some time so this was the most affective breaking point I could think of at 11:29PM I hope you enjoyed it and continue to do so!

Next Up! Chapter Three: Future Boy (subject to change)


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